Many of us have cursed these teeth rattling mine-fields called truncated domes, detectable domes, or tactical pavers while pushing a grocery cart out to our cars, wondering what genius thought that placing them in front of a grocery store or pharmacy was a good idea.
We have our federal government to thank for these accident-prone obstacle courses that haunt the elderly many others dealing with balance...

In a recent column, I stressed the frequency that Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks still occur some 41 years later after 221 people were hospitalized and 34 people died from an outbreak that occurred at a Philadelphia convention for the American Legion; where the Legionella bacterium earned its name.
This week I decided to emphasize the degree of risk that this disease poses for business owners, corporations...

Imagine for a minute you and your co-workers are sent to a 3-day work conference in Orlando, Fla. You return home and the next day you have a headache, chills, muscle pains and a high fever. After a couple of days your fever spikes to dangerous levels so you are rushed to the hospital.
You wake up eight days later after going into a coma to find yourself on a ventilator fighting for your life. You...

It’s that time of year again where millions of men (88.1 percent) and women (11.9 percent) , begin to disappear and venture into the woods to hunt the all elusive whitetail deer.
Deer season in Kentucky opened for bow hunters this past Sept. 2 and muzzle-loading season is scheduled to begin this coming weekend, Oct. 21-22.
It’s been estimated that there are 16.5 million active hunters across the...

The most dangerous animal in the state of Kentucky is not a rattlesnake or black bear. It is the docile, beautiful but-oh-so-deadly whitetail deer.
That’s right. Run-ins with deer on roadways cause millions of vehicle accidents every year. It’s especially common in October, November and December, the peak of mating season.
According to the Kentucky State Police, nearly 47 percent of all collisions...

Last Monday morning, we all awoke to the news of the Las Vegas massacre where 59 people were shot and killed, and another 527 people were injured while attending a Jason Aldean country music concert across the street from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Every time there is a mass shooting, pundits on both sides of the gun control debate come out in force. The fact is people with guns couldn’t...

Imagine if you were a first-responder, where danger lurked at every turn, where you are expected to stand ready to respond to your country’s cry for help in a time of need, where on any given day you are required to pack up and leave your family behind, head into harm’s way without any kind of time-table for your return.
No, I’m not talking about Seal Team 6, the National Guard, the police,...

Hammocks are synonymous with summer leisure, relaxation and to some retirement.
They are a great way to relax in backyards, beaches or while camping in the woods, but what if I told you that a handful of people died every year while resting in a hammock?
It’s true.
Like with anything else, if you don’t use a hammock properly it can be extremely dangerous. On Aug. 1, 2017 a Northern Kentucky...

Many of us have watched in disbelief the torrential rainfalls in southeast Texas that followed after Hurricane Harvey hit the region this past weekend.
Over the past several days, I have kept up with my stranded and recently retired step-brother David Sanford and his wife Joy, who happened to be on vacation in the Houston area visiting family. Initially, he felt that he was at a fairly safe distance...

Every August all across America, communities experience a phenomenon that I call the “Back to School Trafficitos.”
This behavioral phenomenon began last week between the hours of 7-9 a.m. and 3-5 p.m., when it magically seems that your community’s population doubled and every other driver has somehow lost the ability to operate a vehicle safely.
There are many variables that come into play...

Local school officials have recently reached out to me as one of their risk control advisers to ask if they should cancel classes because of Monday’s Great American Solar Eclipse.
How I would have longed for that call when I was in school. I’m pretty sure that I would have advised them to cancel the week before, the week of and the week after due to the “glaring” risks associated...

On the morning of May 20, my childhood classmate Jeff Brown, his wife and two of their children died in a house fire in Lexington. According to reports, the fire started in the basement, where four of the five occupants later died from smoke inhalation.
Luckily the oldest daughter, 13, sleeping in the bedroom the greatest distance from the fire, was able to escape through an open window and run to...

Personal use of company-provided vehicles has long been a perk that many businesses provide to their employees.
In my business, one of the risk management controls that we check is the personal usage policy for company vehicles, one that sets guidelines governing who can use the company vehicle.
But recently an increasing number of employees have been found to be using their company cars as a tool...

Hitchhiking or thumbing or hitching is a truly unique form of traveling and continues to be popular in some places around the world.
Yet essentially, you’re asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile, a situation that has the potential to provoke all types of real and imagined fears, depending on your personal experience.
Hitchhiking across Europe, for instance, has been...

Distracted driving is a serious and escalating problem throughout the United States and when we think of distracted driving today most of us visualize cell phone or texting on a smartphone.
Right?
But little did we know that the very people that are commissioned with enforcing the distracted driving laws in our communities are some of the most egregious violators. It’s true, police officers are...

The Grenfell Tower fire in west London that killed 79 people and injured another 74 people was heart-wrenching to watch on TV on the night of June 14.
According to reports, it was the deadliest fire in Great Britain since World War II. The 43-year-old building housed approximately 600 people, contained 127 flats and had 227 bedrooms.
Emergency crews were quick to arrive on the scene after being notified...

Thanks to evolving and improving technology, telecommuting from home has been a growing trend over the past two decades.
It is defined as a work arrangement in which employees do not commute or travel by bus or car to a central place of work, such as an office building, warehouse or store. Telecommuters will use mobile telecommunications technology such as Wi-Fi equipped laptop, tablet or personal...

Summer time is almost here and an estimated 54 million Americans will be mowing their lawns as we all try to keep up with the spring rains. Mowing the lawn is a summer-time ritual and a rite of passage for many teenagers and as the school year draws to a close many will take on this proverbial family chore.
Despite all the new safety features that have been added to lawn mowers since my childhood,...

According to Statista.com 68 percent of all households in the United States own pets, up from 56 percent in 1988.
As of March 2017 a total of 89.7 million dogs, 94.2 million cats, 20.3 million birds, 14 million small animals and 9.4 million reptiles were estimated to be residing in U.S. households.
The American Pet Product Association (APPA) estimates that pet owners in the United States spent $60.28...

In today’s technologically advanced world, entrepreneurially minded homeowners, landlords and even renters have a unique opportunity to rent out their home, spare bedroom or other accommodations through Airbnb, an online hospitality company.
For travelers, Airbnb is a convenient platform that provides affordable and flexible alternatives to hotels. For home owners and tenants alike, the service connects...